Apples and Trees
by millstone1005
Summary: [Complete] Ryan is in danger of following in his brother’s footsteps. AU. Set several months after 3.4 'The Last Waltz'.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Apples and Trees

**Description:** Ryan is in danger of following in his brother's footsteps.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to _The O.C._. Not for profit.

**Author's Notes:** This story was inspired by the previews for upcoming episodes that aired after 3.4 _The Last Waltz_. Note that the events in this story don't match exactly the previews. Plus, I avoid spoilers at all costs, so no spoilers were used as a basis for this story. Any resemblance to any storyline in the actual upcoming episodes is unlikely and purely coincidental.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Ryan sat at the foot of the bed in the Cohens' pool house, slouched over, staring at the classified ads, hoping against hope. He'd been through all the help-wanted ads once already, and he was now sifting through them again, just in the off chance that he missed something the first time through.

He just _had_ to find a job. If he wasn't going to go to school any more, he had to work. He had to.

Ryan looked up and took a deep breath, rolling his shoulders and turning his head back and forth, trying to work out the kink in his neck. He glanced back down at the newspaper and smiled a bit to himself. He remembered going over the classifieds with Trey last spring, just like this. It was funny how alike they were in some ways, he and Trey. Apples and trees. He _was_ his brother's Little Brother.

Ryan sighed, lowered the newspaper, and looked out over the ocean. Just as he had predicted to Marissa that sad evening months ago after he had watched Trey's bus disappear into the darkness, here he was, alone again, wondering where Trey went, if he was okay, if he'd gotten caught yet.

Ryan's breath caught is his throat as he tried not to think about all the things that could happen to Trey out on the road, on the run like he was. Ryan hoped that since they hadn't heard anything, that meant he hadn't been picked up, or hurt, or killed. He hoped that if anything happened to him, the authorities would notify him, or at least notify Sandy. Ryan closed his eyes for a moment. Trey and his mom, out there somewhere, god-knew-where. All he could do was hope they were okay. It was the not-knowing that was killing him.

After a while, Ryan made the effort to pull himself away from dwelling on the state of his family. He needed to move on to more pressing concerns. As he shifted his eyes away from the ocean, the desk in the corner of the pool house caught his eye. He stopped to take a long look at the school books and other school supplies scattered around it – the debris of Sandy's doomed 'home schooling' experiment.

The first private tutor, a middle-aged woman who never married and never had kids – the one who tutored Stallone's kids ten or fifteen years back -- was all right, Ryan supposed. It really wasn't her fault that he hated home study: being stuck in the pool house all day, first alone with the tutor, then really alone working on his "homework".

School at home – it just felt so... _wrong._ School was supposed to be going to a large building with a bunch of other kids, sitting in classrooms, going from one teacher to the next, a different teacher for each subject. And there was supposed to be lunch in a cafeteria, and school sports and dances... This, this was not school. And Ryan wanted no part of it.

Still, he kind of felt guilty about the hard time he gave the first tutor, to the point where she finally got fed up and stormed into Sandy's office and quit. Ryan was relieved to get rid of her, until Sandy insisted on finding another one. The second one was worse, an arrogant thirty-something prick. He didn't even last half as long as the first. At least the first one had tried.

Ryan took a deep breath and looked back down at the newspaper's help wanted section and started doodling on it with his red pen. Right now, Sandy was in his office looking for yet another tutor for him. Ryan had been trying to get up the nerve to tell him that he didn't want to try again. It wasn't the tutors, it was him. He just wasn't cut out for this home schooling thing.

And to top it off, Ryan supposed it was probably too late in the school year now to start up at Newport Union or some other school and actually be able to finish the work and graduate on time. If only Sandy had _listened_ to him when he asked to enroll at Newport Union at the beginning of the year... But there was no point in going there now. There was nothing to be done about it. This school year was lost.

Hence the job search. Ryan didn't know what else to do.

After a few more minutes of fruitlessly studying the classifieds, Ryan threw the newspaper down on the bed and stood up. He was bored. He felt confined by the walls of the pool house, even if three of them were made of windows. He needed to get out. He grabbed his leather jacket and headed for his bike. Now that Kirsten was home, he didn't have unfettered access to the Range Rover any more, and even though Sandy was home and so was his Lexus, Ryan didn't feel comfortable asking to borrow Sandy's shiny new car. So it was back to the bike.

After making a quick stop in Sandy's office to let him know that he was going out, Ryan got on his bike and headed for the pier. Maybe he could find a Help Wanted sign at the Crab Shack or the Bait Shop or the diner or some such place. Or even if not, it would feel good to work off some of his pent-up energy with a fast bike ride and maybe a run on the beach. Ryan sped off down the driveway and out of the Cohens' housing development, deep in thought.

* * *

To be continued. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Apples and Trees

**Description:** Ryan is in danger of following in his brother's footsteps.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to _The O.C._. Not for profit.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

By the time Ryan got back from his job hunt at the pier – and finding nothing – it was almost dinnertime. He quickly put his bike away and hurried out to the pool house to put away his jacket. He was quite hungry by this time, having not eaten anything while he was out, so he headed straight into the kitchen. On the way in, he could see that Sandy and Kirsten were in there and the table was already set. Kirsten was cooking again, and she was actually getting pretty good at it. Ryan was looking forward to seeing what she was experimenting with this time.

When Ryan stepped into the kitchen from the back yard, Sandy smiled at him. "Hey, kid, how was your ride?"

Ryan smiled back. "Good."

Kirsten looked over at Ryan from the stove. "Oh, hey, sweetie. Dinner's almost ready. Why don't you go ahead and get yourself a drink?"

Ryan nodded. On his way to the refrigerator, Ryan glanced at the cookbook that Kirsten was using. Huh. Greek food. He had never had Greek food before. It looked good, though. Ryan was reminded of Trey's reaction to the first time the Cohens ordered Thai after Trey got out of jail and came to stay with them. And the time that Oliver (shudder) ordered Moroccan food, which Ryan didn't know the "proper" way to eat. Exotic international foods just weren't an Atwood staple. But Ryan was getting used to it. Slowly.

As Ryan was grabbing his drink, Seth made his appearance.

"Mother, is dinner ready? I'm _starving_." Seth whined, rubbing his stomach with exaggerated drama.

Kirsten exchanged an amused look with Sandy. "Yes, Seth. It's almost ready. Grab a drink."

Seth quickly did that and sat down at the table, looking at his mother expectantly. Ryan joined him, silently amused by Seth's antics.

Ryan knew that Seth would have just gotten home from school. He was still, or rather _again_, attending detention every day, courtesy of the Dean. That jackass just would just not let up on Seth and Summer. Seth had confided in Ryan that Summer saw the Dean with Taylor, but they couldn't do anything with the information because try as they might, they couldn't get their hands on any tangible proof that they could take to Dr. Kim and the board.

Ryan had offered to help out, but Seth and Summer turned him down flat, saying that they didn't want him to get himself into any more trouble on their account. They were convinced that the Dean wasn't joking around when he said that he'd call the police if Ryan set foot on Harbor school grounds. And Ryan couldn't dispute that. So he reluctantly stayed out of it, which left Seth to take the brunt of Dean Hess's petty revenge ploy, or was it a power play?

Either way, the jackass was still treating Seth like a work release prisoner instead of a student. Meaning he couldn't do any of his homework during detention like normal kids did. Meaning he had to spend most of his time in the evenings and on weekends doing school work. And pretty much any time he didn't spend doing that, he spent with Summer.

All of which meant that Ryan hadn't seen much of Seth in quite a while. Except of course for the Thanksgiving four-day weekend last week. And even with that, Ryan still felt like he and Seth had fallen out of touch, like old high-school buddies who had graduated and gone their separate ways. Most of the time, he had no idea what was going on in Seth's life.

And it wasn't much better with Marissa. She had her new school and her new friends. Ryan didn't want to get in the way of her fitting in there, or push himself in where he wasn't wanted. And it didn't help that Sandy was still discouraging Ryan from spending too much time with her. The two of them had gotten out of the habit of seeing each other before school. Since Marissa no longer had her own car and Ryan didn't have the Range Rover all the time, it was just too difficult. So they were left with occasionally seeing each other at night or on the weekends.

At this point, Ryan was thinking that Seth may have been right that night of the first Newport Union dance – that was when she started drifting away from him, when he started losing her. Ryan was afraid that by now, it might just be too late to get her back.

Ryan glanced at Seth. That wasn't the way it was supposed to be this year, their senior year. Like Summer said, they were all supposed to be together and it was supposed to be their best year yet. Ryan sighed. It was far from it.

Ryan was brought out of his depressing thoughts by Kirsten placing a plate of food in front of him.

"Bon appétit!"

"Um, honey, isn't that French? We're having _Greek_ food." Sandy said as he sat down, making gentle fun of his wife.

Kirsten just glared at her husband as she sat down at the other end of the table. Sandy wisely squelched his smile and picked up his fork.

"Darling, everything looks delicious." He took a bite. "And tastes delicious, too."

Now Kirsten smiled at him. "Smart man."

Ryan suppressed his own smile and got busy eating his own dinner. It was nice seeing Sandy and Kirsten being Sandy-and-Kirsten again. Ryan sat back and enjoyed the dinner, and enjoyed the light-hearted banter between Sandy and Kirsten and between Seth and his parents, with Ryan himself contributing every so often. It was nice having a relaxing family dinner.

Everything was going well, until Kirsten brought up the subject that Ryan was hoping to avoid.

"So Ryan, Sandy and I found you a new tutor. I think you'll like this one. Her name's Emily. She doesn't have a lot of experience, but she's young, closer to you in age than the others. I've talked to her. I think you two will get along great."

Sandy and Kirsten were both watching him, apparently waiting for his response. They both looked quite pleased by this announcement, and obviously were expecting him to say that it was great. But Ryan started to fidget in his seat and couldn't look either of them in the eye. He was hoping to put this off for longer. But in all fairness, he couldn't allow them to tell this woman that she had a job, when she didn't.

After a minute, Sandy prodded, "Ryan? What do you think?"

Ryan took a deep breath and steeled himself. This wasn't going to be easy. He looked up at Kirsten, then Sandy.

"Um... actually... I don't want you guys to hire another tutor. This just isn't... the home schooling... it just isn't working out. We've tried two tutors, I don't want to try another one. It isn't them, it's me. I've started looking for a job –"

The reaction was immediate, from everyone.

"Dude –"  
"_What_?"  
"What the _hell_ are you talking about..."

Ryan dropped his eyes. After a few moments the table went quiet. Then Sandy spoke.

"Ryan? ... Ryan, look at me."

Ryan reluctantly looked up at Sandy. As he expected, his face was filled with disbelief, disappointment, maybe a little anger.

"What are you saying? You're dropping out of school?"

* * *

To be continued. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Apples and Trees

**Description:** Ryan is in danger of following in his brother's footsteps.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to _The O.C._. Not for profit.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Ryan shifted his eyes slightly to the left and looked past Sandy and out the French doors, to the pool house and back yard. He really didn't know how to answer Sandy's question. He hadn't thought of it that way. As "dropping out of school". He wouldn't be going to school for the rest of this year, but he hadn't really thought much past that. Maybe next year, he could finish high school. But... wait... he'd be 18 then. How would that work? He needed some time to think this out...

Unfortunately, Sandy didn't give him time. He took Ryan's silence as "yes, I'm dropping out of school". Ryan could see Sandy's anger taking over.

Sandy raised his voice. "I don't believe this! So you _want_ to throw away your future?"

Sandy's anger sparked something in Ryan, and he met Sandy's anger with his own.

Ryan raised his own voice. "I'm not throwing _anything_ away! This is _my_ future, _my_ life, _my_ decision!"

"Ryan –"

"Sandy. Ryan." Kirsten interrupted. "Why don't we all calm down? We're not going to get anything accomplished by yelling at each other."

Ryan glanced at Kirsten. She was looking at both him and Sandy, with a pleading look on her face, obviously trying to get things under control. A quick look at Sandy revealed that he now had his head down, eyes closed, and was taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. And Seth – well, he was looking a little shell-shocked. His eyes were darting between Ryan and his dad, like he didn't know how to handle this, Ryan and his father arguing. And Ryan couldn't blame him. He and Sandy almost never argued, and Ryan couldn't remember a time that they had done so in front of Seth.

Ryan put his head down himself and took some deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"Ryan."

At least Sandy's voice was calmer now. Ryan looked at him. But he still looked pissed.

Sandy leaned forward, arms on the table. "Ryan, when you came to live here, with us, you were given a second chance. A chance to finish high school, go to college, have a real future. I just don't understand how you could take that opportunity and just throw it away."

Ryan sighed. "That's not what I'm doing."

Ryan shifted his gaze. That wasn't what he was doing, was it? He didn't know any more. He really needed time to think.

Sandy continued as if Ryan hadn't spoken. "And what we're here for ..." Sandy indicated himself and Kirsten. "... is to help you stay on track, have that rosy future that you deserve. But you need to listen to us. If you're not going to take our advice, what's the point in you being here at all?"

As Sandy had spoken, his voice had been rising, getting more insistent. And Ryan found himself getting more pissed off again in response.

"I tried it your way. It didn't work."

"You have to keep trying!"

"No, I don't!"

Ryan couldn't believe Sandy's attitude. He still wasn't listening to him. Ryan knew if he didn't get out of there, and soon, he and Sandy would both say things they'd regret. So he forcefully pushed his chair back and stormed from the kitchen, out to the pool house. Kirsten tried to call him back, but he couldn't go back, not yet. He needed time and space to think.

Ryan stood in the center of the pool house for a moment and knew that he was still too close to the Cohens there. He needed to get further away. He grabbed his jacket, headed around the house to get his bike, and took off for the beach, for Marissa's favorite hideout at the lifeguard tower. Well, Marissa's former favorite hideout. She'd been going there less and less in the last few months, maybe because she lived with Summer now instead of her mother and Caleb, so she didn't need to escape the house so much. Ryan found himself using it more and more lately instead.

* * *

Ryan settled in on the lifeguard tower and stared out at the ocean, listening to the waves coming in and out, letting them soothe him.

He thought about what Sandy said. It sounded an awful lot like "my way or the highway". But Ryan knew that Sandy couldn't possibly have meant it like that. Sandy and Kirsten weren't like his mother. They wouldn't kick him out for any reason, even quitting school.

Ryan could remember when Trey quit school, after several years of doing the same things that Ryan did at Chino Hills: not studying, getting into fights, skipping school, getting suspended for fights and truancy. Finally Trey just stopped going altogether. He remembered how his mother had yelled at Trey about what a good-for-nothing loser he was, just like their father. How he'd end up in jail, just like their father. He can remember his mother also saying that Trey had better get a job, then, if he wasn't going to go to school.

Was Ryan going to end up just like Trey? A high school dropout who left home at 17 and ended up on the other side of the law? Of course his situation now was totally different than Trey's was then. If he did drop out of school and leave home, it would be for different reasons, under different circumstances. Ryan sure as hell hoped he didn't end up like Trey, but the way things were going, who knew. Ryan sighed and watched the waves, trying to clear his mind enough to figure this thing out.

"Hey, man."

Ryan snapped out of his reverie and looked up to see Seth standing over him. He hadn't even heard him come up.

"There you are. You're not answering your phone." Seth sat down next to Ryan. "Mom and Dad are worried. Is everything okay?"

Ryan shrugged. "Not really."

Seth nodded and joined Ryan watching the waves. After a minute, Seth spoke.

"You know my dad didn't mean that the way it sounded, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"He was just upset about you quitting the home schooling thing. You know how he is about school and working towards your future –"

Ryan was getting a little irritated now. "I said I know, Seth."

Seth looked down. "Okay."

They both sat in silence for a few minutes. And while Ryan appreciated Seth being quiet, it wasn't enough.

"Seth, I appreciate you coming out here but... I really need to be alone."

"Yeah, okay."

Seth sighed and stood up. He took a few steps down the tower ramp then stopped and turned around.

"Mom said to remind you about your curfew."

Ryan looked at Seth, incredulous. He could give a rat's ass about Sandy and Kirsten's curfew right now.

Seth smiled. "I know, I know. But she's worried about you. She wanted me to bring you back as soon as I found you, but I told her that you needed time. The curfew is a compromise, so…"

Ryan sighed. "Yeah, okay, thanks."

Seth smiled. "No problem."

And with one last nod, Seth headed home.

* * *

To be continued. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** Apples and Trees

**Description:** Ryan is in danger of following in his brother's footsteps.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to _The O.C._. Not for profit.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Ryan arrived back at the Cohens' just before midnight. He put it off as late as possible, while still doing as Kirsten requested and coming home before curfew. He was hoping that everyone would have gone to bed by the time he got home, but he didn't really expect that to happen. He expected that at least Sandy would be waiting up. He could imagine that Sandy probably had a few more choice words for him.

To Ryan's surprise, however, it wasn't Sandy who was waiting up for him, but Kirsten. She was at the kitchen table, sipping something hot out of a mug, and looking over some paperwork when Ryan walked into the kitchen.

"Hey."

Kirsten looked up and broke into a grin. She immediately got up and went over to Ryan and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you for coming home on time."

Ryan nodded.

"Are you all right?"

"Fine."

Kirsten nodded, although she looked skeptical. "Sandy wanted to wait up and talk to you tonight, but I figured we could all use a good night's sleep and a chance to calm down and reflect before –"

"Before we go at it again?"

Kirsten looked at him indulgently. "Before we continue our discussion."

Ryan gave Kirsten a half-smile.

Kirsten walked back over to the table and started gathering up her stuff. She turned halfway to look at him.

"Sandy and I have to go to the Newport Group early tomorrow to work on some stuff about the liquidation. But tomorrow night, after dinner, we _are_ going to continue this discussion. You, me, and Sandy."

Ryan looked away and nodded, resigned.

Kirsten smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, there isn't going to be any yelling. Sandy promised me. We're going to have a calm discussion about all the issues. Everyone is going to have his or her say, and we'll make the decisions together, as a family. How does that sound?"

This time Ryan gave her a full smile. "Sounds like somebody's been in therapy recently."

Kirsten laughed. "What can I say?"

Ryan chuckled also. And then he nodded at Kirsten and started to head out to the pool house.

"Good night, Ryan."

"Night."

* * *

After getting ready for bed, Ryan lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He knew he wouldn't be getting to sleep for a while yet. He had too much on his mind. And he had a lot of preparation to do. He needed to have a game plan in place before tomorrow night's "discussion". He knew if he didn't, then somehow Sandy would convince him to do what _he_ wanted instead of what Ryan wanted, all the while being very reasonable and open-minded. Ryan smiled to himself. That was always the way it happened.

But Ryan was determined not to let it happen that way this time. Now that he was calm and refreshed from his evening at the beach, he was ready to get to work, mentally that is. He needed a plan for his future, and he needed it in place by tomorrow so that he could argue for it at the family meeting after dinner. Of course, winning an argument against a lawyer was going to be tricky, so that's why he needed to know what he was going to say ahead of time, anticipate Sandy's objections and come up with counters for them.

Like Sandy semi-jokingly asked him for after he got expelled from Harbor, he needed to bring to the table "a 3-point plan on how he was going to keep up his studies, graduate on time, and get into a great college". Although since the _graduate on time_ part was already in jeopardy, Ryan replaced it with _graduate at all_.

Okay, so, Ryan figured he should approach this logically, like a physics problem. Deal with one thing at a time, one step at a time.

First issue: school

First of all, Ryan knew now that he definitely _didn't_ want to drop out of school. He figured that out at the beach. He didn't want to follow in his brother's footsteps that way and be a dropout. He wanted to at least graduate from high school, and maybe even go to college, if the finances could be worked out. Second, he didn't want to home school any more. He hated the home schooling. He'd rather drop out than do the home schooling. Third, it was too late in the year to enroll in regular school now and be able to finish the work to graduate this year.

So logically, that all added up to is that he was not going to graduate this year. The only way he could would be to do home schooling, which he wasn't willing to do. Or alternatively, he could forgo a normal diploma and get his GED instead. Ryan knew that his junior year classes at Harbor were way harder than the senior year classes at Chino Hills, so he would probably have no trouble passing the GED exam right away.

But Ryan didn't want to do that, either. He knew kids from back home that got their GEDs and it just wasn't given much respect, by employers or colleges. Ryan wanted a real diploma. So again, using logic, that meant he had to enroll in some regular high school as a senior next year. Which led to:

Second issue: next year

Next year Ryan would be 18. That meant that the Cohens wouldn't be his legal guardians any more. Technically, they would no longer be required to support him financially, or give him a place to live, or any of it. But – they'd already told him that they considered him a member of the family, and reassured him that wasn't going to change when he turned 18. They had even already offered to pay for college, although Ryan hadn't accepted, not yet anyway.

Given that, Ryan felt comfortable asking them if they would let him live with them next year. He was reasonably confident that they would say yes. Being able to live here would allow him to enroll in Newport Union for the year, getting his high school diploma at the end of it. Okay, yeah, a year late, but at least he'd have it.

Ryan sat up and turned on the light beside the bed. He now had the basics of a plan. He got up and grabbed a pen and notebook to write it down so he wouldn't forget everything by tomorrow. As he wrote, he figured that the trickiest bit would be to convince Sandy to stop the home schooling. He didn't have a logical argument against it that he could use, he just hated it. Sandy would just have to accept that.

Now that he had a plan, Ryan realized that he was really tired and figured that now he could sleep. He'd worry about figuring out the rest of the details tomorrow, such as what he was going to do with himself for the next nine months.

* * *

To be continued. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** Apples and Trees

**Description:** Ryan is in danger of following in his brother's footsteps.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to _The O.C._. Not for profit.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Sandy and Kirsten and Ryan settled down in the family room after dinner the next day. Seth had been sent up to his room to do his homework. Although Ryan figured that he was probably listening from the top of the stairs, which he had no problem with.

Ryan brought with him his notebook with the all the stuff he had written down last night and today about what he wanted to say. As they were sitting down, Kirsten smiled at him.

"You have notes, Ryan?"

Ryan gave her a little embarrassed smile. "I just wanted to be prepared."

Kirsten laughed a little. "Very good."

She looked between Sandy and Ryan. "I feel like I'm at work. I feel like I should say 'I hereby call this meeting to order'. We all know why we're here, gentlemen. First on the agenda is –"

Ryan raised his hand. "Madam Chairwoman?"

"The chair recognizes Ryan Atwood."

"Do you mind if I go first?" He indicated his notes.

Kirsten raised her eyebrows and exchanged a look with Sandy and when he didn't object, she nodded. "Sure, Ryan. You have the floor."

Ryan locked gazes with Sandy. "First off, I wanted to say that I'm not dropping out of school."

Sandy gave Ryan a big grin and a sigh of relief. "That's great, Ryan. We –"

Ryan put his hand up and interrupted Sandy before he could get too far. "Wait. Before you get too happy..."

Sandy looked at him, concerned.

"I'm not dropping out of school, but I'm not going to continue with the home schooling, either."

Sandy and Kirsten exchanged a confused look. Kirsten asked him, "What do you mean, Ryan?"

"I have a plan." Ryan indicated his notes again. "And I'd like you guys to hear me out."

Sandy hesitantly told him. "Okay, go ahead."

Ryan stared at his notes for a moment, gathering his thoughts, then he got up and started pacing.

"Ryan, when I said you had the floor, I didn't mean that literally."

Ryan looked at Kirsten and gave her a brief smile. He appreciated her trying to lighten the mood. He took a deep breath, and started talking.

"All right. Here it is. Home schooling isn't working for me, so I'm done with it. But it wouldn't make sense for me to enroll in regular school at this point. I've missed the first three months of the school year, which might be manageable if I wasn't a senior. I could make up the work in summer school or next year. But as a senior, I don't think I can make up the work in time to graduate this year."

Sandy was nodding. "Exactly. That's why you need to continue the home schooling. So you can graduate on time."

Ryan looked up and sighed. He just knew that Sandy wouldn't let go of the home schooling idea. Ryan sat down hard in his chair.

"Sandy, let's hear him out." Kirsten looked at Ryan. "Go on, Ryan."

After a moment, Ryan leaned forward and continued. "I intend to enroll in Newport Union _next_ year, so I can go to school for a full year as a senior. I'll be over 18, but if you guys would let me live here –"

Kirsten interrupted. "Of course you can live here, Ryan. There isn't even a question."

Ryan smiled. "Great. So then I can finish school next year. I'll be able to graduate then. Class of 2007."

Sandy sat forward. He didn't look convinced. "Why go through all that? We can work on finding you a tutor that you like. You can even interview the candidates yourself. That way, you can finish your senior year this year and graduate with your friends, on time."

Ryan made an effort to stay calm and logical. "I told you, I don't want to do the home schooling. The problem isn't with the tutors, it's with me. The format just doesn't work for me. I don't understand what the big deal is about graduating on time, anyway. I'll get my diploma next year. I'm _not_ dropping out of school. I _will_ finish. I _will_ graduate. Isn't that the important thing here?"

Sandy looked like he was also getting a little aggravated. "You'll lose a year. For no reason."

Ryan took another deep breath to try to calm himself down. "Look. You wanted me to think about my future. I did. You wanted me to come up with a plan. I did. This is it. Just because it doesn't match your idea of what I should do, doesn't mean it isn't a valid way to proceed. If you weren't going to listen to what I have to say, why even ask?"

Kirsten jumped in before Sandy had a chance. Sandy looked like he was about to start yelling. Kirsten was obviously trying to defuse the situation.

"Of course we want to hear what you have to say, Ryan. We'd just like you to listen to what we have to say as well. Let's just slow down and think this through, and not rush into anything."

"I _have_ thought this through. This is what I want to do. You don't want me to drop out of school. I'm not. You want me to graduate. I will. I'll even go on to college after that probably. What more do you want?"

Sandy said, "Can't we even discuss this?"

"Sure. Let's discuss it. But you have to know up front that I'm not going to do home schooling. That part is non-negotiable. Given that, I think this plan is the best, most logical course of action. But if you have something better, I'd love to hear it."

Kirsten put her hand on Sandy's arm, to hold him back. "Ryan, why don't you give us some time to think about it?"

Ryan stood up. "Sure. Take all the time you need. I'll be upstairs with Seth."

Ryan left the family room and headed for the stairs. As he expected, Seth was sitting at the top and heard everything. Ryan sat down next to him.

Seth whispered, "Wow. I'm impressed. A man with a plan."

Ryan shrugged and whispered back, "Your folks didn't seem too impressed."

"I think they were –"

"Shhh. I want to listen."

Ryan strained to hear Kirsten and Sandy's voices. He and Seth both sat quietly for a minute, trying to hear. But it was useless. They were talking too quietly to overhear.

"I think they know we're up here, dude."

"Mmm."

Seth got up. "We'll never hear anything now. Come on. Let's go to my room."

Ryan got up and followed Seth to his room and waited.

* * *

A half hour or so later, Ryan heard Sandy's voice calling for him up the stairs. So he headed back down to the family room to see what the verdict was. Seth followed him as far as the top of the stairs and settled back down in his favorite eavesdropping position there. 

Ryan sat down in the chair in the family room and looked at Kirsten and Sandy, waiting anxiously to hear what they'd say.

Kirsten started it off. "Ryan, we appreciate all the thought and hard work you put into your plan."

That didn't sound good. "But?"

"No 'but'. We're endorsing your plan."

Ryan was surprised. He looked at Sandy. He didn't look like he was happy with this decision. "You are?"

Sandy cleared his throat, and after a quick glance at Kirsten, reassured Ryan, "Yes, we are. We're willing to back off about school for this year as long as you make us a promise."

"Sure, anything."

"Promise us that you _will_ enroll in school next year, that you _will_ graduate."

"Yes, of course. I promise."

Kirsten and Sandy shared a look. "Great."

They looked like they were done, so Ryan stood up. "Great. And thanks, guys."

Kirsten gave Ryan a nod and a smile. Sandy still didn't look happy. Obviously Kirsten talked Sandy into going along with his plan, against his better judgment. But Ryan would take it since he wasn't fighting with Ryan about it any more. Ryan gave Kirsten a grateful smile, then headed out to the pool house.

* * *

To be continued. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** Apples and Trees

**Description:** Ryan is in danger of following in his brother's footsteps.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to _The O.C._. Not for profit.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

A week later, Ryan was at home alone, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, and bored out of his mind.

Ryan needed to find a job, and soon. Not just because he was bored. He couldn't just sit around the house and do nothing, mooching off the Cohens like some people (cough, Hailey, cough). Like his mom said to Trey way back when: if you're not going to school, you'd better get a job. Oh, god, when did he start taking advice from his mother? Trey certainly never did. He never did get a real job. Until he came to Newport and got the job at The Bait Shop, that is. In Chino, after he quit school and left home, he made his living stealing cars and other things. Ryan certainly wasn't about to be like Trey.

As much as he resisted it, he couldn't deny that his mother was right in this instance. While he was in school, he did need someone to financially support him. But now, there was no reason he couldn't get a full-time job and support himself. He _should_ get a job and support himself, as much as possible, anyway. So he'd been looking, unfortunately without any success. The only jobs to be had in Newport, it seemed, were temporary holiday jobs, like at the mall, dealing with the obnoxious holiday shopping crowd. No thank-you. Ryan wanted something more permanent; something that would last for the next eight months or so before the next school year started.

And he needed to find something soon. He was bored to death already, and it had only been a week. A week of no school, no job, and not seeing much of Marissa, or Seth and Summer. They were still all busy with their new lives and he didn't see any more of them now than he did when he was still doing home schooling. And Sandy and Kirsten were busy liquidating the Newport Group. They wanted to get it finished by the end of the year.

Since he hadn't been able to find anything in Newport, Ryan had found himself thinking seriously of leaving town, just for a while. Not running away, just – what do they call it? – a strategic withdrawal. He'd make sure he was back in time for school. He was beginning to think that he really needed this, and not just to find a job. He needed to get away for a while, away from this place, out of Newport. Be by himself, rely only upon himself.

It was actually what Sandy said last week that put the idea in his head. He knew that Sandy didn't really mean "my way or the highway", like it sounded. He knew that the Cohens would never ask him to leave. But it did get him thinking about what it would be like to leave, at least for a little while. He'd been thinking about it casually off and on since Sandy said it. There was really no reason not to leave. Nothing really tying him here, at least not until school started up again next fall.

He didn't have classes to attend. He didn't have a job to get to. He wasn't on probation any more, so there were no restrictions on his travel. Seth and Marissa didn't need him. Seth had Summer and he was getting along fine at school without Ryan there (except for the Dean Hess crap). Marissa had her new school and her new friends. She wasn't drinking any more and she seemed to be handling her family situation just fine.

The more he thought about it, the more attractive the idea became. He had some money saved, from his various jobs plus his allowance plus some gift money he got for his birthday and Christmas. It should be enough to tide him over until he could find a new job. Plus, he knew that if he got into any trouble, financial or otherwise, he could always come back. He had a safety net. That made it a whole lot easier.

Ryan could imagine himself doing what Trey did, or at least what he started to do: get a job, get his own place. Well, maybe not an actual apartment, but at least rent a room by the month or something. He didn't need much. After all, he was going to be 18 in less than six months. He could easily be doing something like this after he turned 18. You know, if he wasn't coming back to finish school.

And it wouldn't be like when he left to go back to Chino with Theresa. This time, he didn't have anyone that he had to take care of except himself. He could go anywhere, do anything. And he had to figure that Seth wouldn't run away this time. He had Summer and school, and he and Ryan hardly ever saw each other these days anyway. Ryan would take his cell, keep in touch. And he was definitely going to be coming back. The Cohen family should be fine this time, not fall apart like they did before.

But, then, Ryan thought, what about the holidays that were coming up? Maybe he should wait until after. Ryan was waffling. It would be nice to spend the holidays with the Cohens and Marissa. But, on the other hand, that would mean waiting an entire month. And he still hated Christmas. You couldn't erase 15 years of horrible holidays with two better ones.

And actually, thinking back, these last two haven't exactly been smooth sailing, either. Between the shoplifting, drinking, and almost getting arrested that first Christmas, not to mention the _I love you_ fiasco that New Year's Eve. And then last year, with the revelation of Caleb's affair that resulted in Lindsay. Maybe it would be better just to skip the holidays altogether.

After some more studying on the matter, Ryan made a decision. He decided to leave Newport, for a while. Obviously, Sandy and Kirsten weren't going to like this. After a short struggle with his conscience, Ryan decided the only way to do it was to leave without asking their permission. After all, he _was_ almost 18.

Ryan got up from the bed and started to pack his duffle bag. He figured that he might as well do it now. The sooner the better. Before he chickened out. He _was_ leaving them a note. And he _was_ taking his cell phone. It would be fine.

* * *

To be continued. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:** Apples and Trees

**Description:** Ryan is in danger of following in his brother's footsteps.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to _The O.C._. Not for profit.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Ryan sat in the chair at the foot the pool house bed, chewing on his pen, notebook in hand, trying to compose his note to Sandy, Kirsten, and Seth. He wanted to explain to them what he was doing and why he was doing it. He wanted to assure them that there was nothing wrong, he just needed to get away. He also wanted to reassure them that he'd be back. He intended to keep his promise to enroll in school next year and get his diploma. But the words needed to say all that just weren't coming easily.

Ryan sighed, lowered the notebook and looked around the pool house. He had already tidied up and gotten it ready to be unoccupied for eight months. He looked at the bed, which he had stripped and put the sheets into the laundry basket. He knew that Rosa would take care of washing them. Sitting on the bed were his fully-packed duffle bag, his cell phone (couldn't forget that), plus his gray hoodie and leather jacket. For traveling, Ryan had decided to wear what Seth had dubbed the "Ryan Atwood escapist ensemble": his boots, jeans, a wife-beater, plus the hoodie and leather jacket. He wanted to be ready for anything.

Ryan smiled to himself at that. God, Seth. "Escapist Ensemble." Only Seth could come up with something like that. Suddenly, Ryan was stricken with doubt. Maybe he shouldn't leave. Kirsten and Sandy definitely weren't going to be happy. Maybe he should stick it out, work harder at finding a job in Newport. Maybe Kirsten and Sandy could help him, although he wasn't sure how, since neither of them worked for a large firm any more.

Ryan sat back and thought for a moment about the possibility of staying in Newport for the next eight months. The idea had its appeal. But then he remembered what his life had been like here for the last three months: not seeing his friends very much, stuck in the pool house most of the time. He could remember one week when he didn't leave the Cohen property at all, and he wasn't even grounded. He just didn't have anywhere to go. That was depressing.

Ryan remembered that at the time, he compared it to Trey being in jail. He had wondered if Trey had ever taken any classes while he was at Chino Penitentiary, you know, to finish his high school diploma. He couldn't believe that he never asked him while he was in town. He shook his head at himself. Anyway, if Trey did take any classes, Ryan imagined that it would be like this: taking classes and living in the same place and never going anywhere else.

Ryan took a deep breath and looked back down at his notebook. No, he definitely had to leave. He went back to attempting to write his note, figuring that he'd just have to do the best that he could, even if he wasn't really good with words. Maybe it wouldn't be poetic, but it would get his point across. He hoped.

* * *

On his way out, Ryan made sure to lock up the pool house and the main house, and set the alarm. The Cohens often left doors and everything open, even when nobody was home, but Ryan felt better locking everything up. After going out the front door, Ryan turned back and looked at the house for a moment. He just wanted to memorize it before he left. He was going to miss this place, and the people, of course, while he was gone. It would have been much worse if he didn't know that he was coming back, but still... 

After one last look, Ryan turned and walked down the driveway. He left his bike in the garage. He was going to be going further than his bike could take him. So he'd just have to walk to do the stuff that he had to do before he left town. His first stop was the bank. He needed to take out some travel money. He wasn't going to close the account, or even take out a large amount right now. He would need the account when he got back, and he did have an ATM card, so he could withdraw more money later if he needed it.

And his second stop was to see Marissa. He just couldn't bring himself to leave without telling her goodbye in person. He cared a lot about her, and she _was_ still his girlfriend, even if they hadn't seen each other much lately. So his second destination was Newport Union High School. He hoped to time it to be there when school got out for the day, so he could catch her on her way out. Now just to figure out how to explain this to her...

* * *

Ryan got to NUHS a little early, so he dropped his duffle bag on the ground and sat down on a low wall across the street from the main entrance to the school, and waited. He didn't think she would go out any other door, so he figured he'd just watch for her. He really hoped to catch her alone, that is, not with her new friends. They of course had all met each other and had hung out sometimes when Marissa had invited Ryan along to some school event, or just out for the night with the whole gang. But Ryan had never felt very comfortable around them. He wasn't sure why... 

Ryan looked up when he saw Marissa out of the corner of his eye. She was just leaving the school grounds. Good, she was alone. Ryan quickly picked up his bag and rushed over to her, to catch up with her before she left.

"Marissa!"

Marissa stopped and turned. When she saw Ryan, she broke out in a large grin, but a confused one.

"Ryan! What are you doing here?"

When Ryan reached her, she put her hand on his shoulder and leaned forward to kiss him.

"Were we supposed to meet?"

"No –"

Apparently at that point, Marissa registered Ryan's clothes and duffle bag. She pointed at the bag.

"Wait – where are you going? Are you leaving?" Her voice had an almost hysterical edge to it.

Ryan sighed. "Marissa, we need to talk."

Ryan took Marissa's hand and led her over to the side of the school, away from the crowd of exiting students. He sat her down on a bench and sat next to her, dropping his bag on the ground.

This wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

To be continued. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Title:** Apples and Trees

**Description:** Ryan is in danger of following in his brother's footsteps.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to _The O.C._. Not for profit.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Ryan tried to explain it all to Marissa. Why he felt he had to leave, and that it was not because of her (well, a little bit, but she didn't have to know that). The fact that he _was_ coming back. The fact that he was _not_ breaking up with her. She didn't seem to understand, or maybe she didn't want to. But he kept trying.

"Marissa, I supported you when you were going to leave to go to Hawaii with your parents, remember? I understood what you were saying, why you had to leave, and that while you were leaving town, you weren't leaving _me_."

Marissa smiled at Ryan, seductively. "Yeah, and I remember what we did the night before I was supposed to go."

She moved forward into his arms and started to kiss him passionately. She put her hands under his jacket, and worked her way under his wife-beater. Ryan felt himself respond to her touch. After a few minutes of making out, Ryan moved away to catch his breath.

"What are you doing?"

She smiled again. "Trying to make it harder for you to leave."

She started kissing him again, but he pushed her away gently. Marissa started to cry softly. "But I need you. My life doesn't work without you..."

Ryan sighed. He took both of her hands in his, and looked straight into her eyes. "We hardly see each other these days, Marissa. You see your new friends more than you see me –"

Marissa reacted to that. She pulled her hands out of his. "That isn't my fault. It wasn't my choice to get kicked out of Harbor. It wasn't my choice to come here."

Ryan narrowed his eyes at her. What was she implying? "And I _wanted_ to get expelled? Is that what you're saying?"

"You're the one who punched the Dean."

"To protect you!"

Marissa stood up and took a step away from the bench, then turned on him. "I didn't ask you to! I told you, I don't need you to help me, I don't need you to protect me!"

Ryan stood up, too. They were both yelling now. "You know what! You don't have to worry about that any more!" Ryan threw his arms out to the side. "I'm done trying to protect you! I'm done trying to help you!"

Ryan took a step towards Marissa, but suddenly from out of nowhere, Marissa's friend Johnny was there, stepping in between them, pushing Marissa behind him, edging them both away from Ryan.

"Hey, what the _hell_ do you think you're doing?"

Johnny ignored Ryan and turned to Marissa. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I could hear you guys from way over there." He took a quick look at Ryan, and then turned back to Marissa. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Ryan was getting fed up with this. He was barely holding back his rage. He told Johnny between clenched teeth, "She _said_ she was _fine_. Stay _out_ of this! This is between _me_ and _my_ girlfriend. Why don't you go and take care of your own?"

Johnny turned to face Ryan, with Marissa behind him, and stood his ground. "I'm not leaving."

Ryan could feel his anger boiling over. "Yeah? You want to go, let's go!"

"Fine!"

Ryan took off his jacket, in preparation for a fight. He'd teach this ass to stay out of his business.

"Ryan, don't! Please." When Ryan didn't stop taking off his jacket, Marissa grabbed Johnny's arm and pulled. "Johnny, you don't want to do this. Believe me."

Johnny turned partway to be able to look at Marissa, without taking his eye off of Ryan.

"I'm not going to let this brute hurt you." Marissa started to protest, but Johnny grabbed her hand. "I know you said he's never touched you, but you have to leave him before he does. He's always angry at you –"

"Johnny! Johnny, Ryan would never hurt me. He's not like that."

Ryan was completely taken aback. He couldn't believe that Johnny thought that he had to protect Marissa from him. He was the one who did the protecting.

So was that how Marissa's friends saw him? As some perpetually angry, potentially abusive, leather-jacketed brute from the wrong side of the tracks who was a threat to his girlfriend? Ryan took a step back. Thinking back on it, he guessed that yeah, pretty much every time he saw Marissa's friends, he ended up getting angry about something or another. Starting from that first time that he saw Johnny and Marissa together and misjudged the situation.

Ryan looked at Marissa. What had she been telling her friends? Did she tell them about Trey and what he did? Did they think that he'd follow in his brother's footsteps and do the same thing one day? Ryan locked eyes with Marissa. She was giving him a pleading look. Did _she_ think he was capable of that? Ryan decided he didn't want to find out.

Ryan grabbed for his jacket and started putting it on. "You know what, forget it. I'm done. I'm gone."

Ryan picked up his duffle bag and started walking fast in the other direction. Marissa called after him. He kept going. He heard Johnny call after Marissa a moment later, and so wasn't surprised when Marissa ran up to him and grabbed his arm. When he stopped, she threw her arms around him and kissed him deeply.

"Ryan, ignore him. He doesn't know what he's talking about. I know you would never hurt me. Please don't leave."

Ryan held her tightly for a moment then shook his head. "I have to go. For lots of reasons."

"Just stay one more night, please? One last good-bye?"

Ryan held firm. If he spent the night with her, he wasn't sure he could leave. "I'm sorry. I can't. I have to go, but I'll be back next summer. Promise."

Tears were running down Marissa's face, but she nodded. She leaned in and kissed him one last time. "I'll be waiting."

* * *

To be continued. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Title:** Apples and Trees

**Description:** Ryan is in danger of following in his brother's footsteps.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to _The O.C._. Not for profit.

**Author's Notes:** This is the last chapter of this story. So long and thanks for all the fish, or I mean reviews.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Ryan threw his duffle bag and jacket onto the bed in the cheap hotel room and then flopped down next to them. Five hours on a bus, or was it six? Either way, it was a long trip to Vegas by bus. Ryan was tired. He wondered if Trey felt the same way after his bus trip. Ryan smiled to himself. So he did follow in his brother's footsteps after all, or rather his tire tracks. Not that he expected to find his brother here or anything. Ryan figured that Trey would have probably just made some money here then moved on. And even if he happened to still be here after all these months, Las Vegas was a big city. Ryan probably wouldn't just run into him at random.

No, Las Vegas just seemed like a good place to start. When he was here before, for Caleb's bachelor party which never happened, Ryan noticed lots of construction going on. And he remembered seeing on the news – or did he read it in the newspaper? whatever – that Vegas was a rapidly growing city, which meant lots of construction. Needless to say, Ryan was hoping to get a construction job.

Or if all else failed, Ryan figured he could make some quick cash playing poker or blackjack, like his mother had taught him. Ryan lay back on the bed. God, his mother. It was a good thing that she went to Reno instead of Vegas to do her gambling. He would really hate to run into her here. That would be... indescribable.

Ryan shoved his duffle bag onto the floor with his foot, and picked up his jacket and tossed it onto the old, ratty chair in the corner. Then he looked around. Not up to Newport standards, obviously. Barely up to Chino standards, even. But it was inexpensive and fairly clean. Ryan had remembered seeing signs for several cheap hotels with rooms for rent by the day/week/month on the way to that illegal poker game that he played in the last time he was here. So when he got off the bus earlier, he immediately headed over this way and picked out the one which looked the cleanest, with the fewest hookers and winos hanging around.

He decided to rent the room for a week, so he wouldn't have to hurry out tomorrow. It would give him time to look for a job. Once he had a job, he'd look into finding a nicer place to stay. But for now, this was good enough.

Ryan took a deep breath. Couldn't put this off any longer. He reached in and took his cell phone out of his pocket. He'd had it turned off ever since he left the Cohens'. He especially didn't want to deal with anybody else after he left Marissa. But now it was time to check his messages and listen to what everyone had to say.

He had messages from Seth, Marissa, and the Cohens, saying what you would expect them all to say. Ryan glanced at his watch. It was close to midnight. Normally, he would consider it too late to call, but he knew the Cohens would be worried, and Marissa had asked him to call when he got where he was going, no matter how late it was. He'd just have to bite the bullet and call.

So Ryan flipped open his phone. Before dialing, Ryan hesitated for a moment. He wasn't planning on telling the Cohens where he was, but he knew that if they really wanted to find him, enough to hire a private investigator, they could track him down through his phone. Well, he figured, he should call anyway. He did promise to keep in touch, and if they really wanted to know where he was that badly, he probably couldn't stop them from finding him in any case. And it wasn't like he was hiding his face at the bus station or anything.

After a brief call to Marissa to let her know that he'd arrived safely, Ryan debated whether to call Seth first, or Sandy and Kirsten directly. Caution won out. He decided to talk to Seth first and get the lay of the land, that is, find out how mad Sandy and Kirsten really were. Maybe he could put off talking to them until tomorrow.

So Ryan dialed Seth's cell and waited.

"Do you know what time it is?"

Ryan smiled at Seth's way of answering the phone. "Hey, man."

"Ryan? Oh, my god!"

Ryan could imagine Seth was pretty awake now. "Yeah."

"Oh, my god! Where are you? My parents are _so_ pissed..."

Ryan sighed. "Yeah, I can imagine."

"Where _are_ you?"

Ryan chuckled. "I'm not telling _you_."

"Why not?" Seth sounded a little annoyed.

"Because. You _know_ you can't keep a secret."

"Dude, that is _so_ not true. I can keep a secret as well as anyone."

"Name one."

Silence.

"Okay, maybe you have a point."

Ryan laughed again. Then he got serious. "You said Kirsten and Sandy are pissed? How pissed?"

Seth laughed a little. "Pretty pissed. You should have heard my dad."

Ryan wasn't sure he wanted to hear this, but... "What did he say?"

"You know my dad. He was ranting all evening. Hey, you owe me one for having to listen to all of this in your place, you know."

"Noted. What did he say?"

"Oh, you know, stuff like, he should never have agreed to your plan for school, that you need to get your life back on track, and now with you running away, your life is even more off-track –"

Ryan interrupted. "Hey. I'm not running away. I'm just... taking a break. I explained it all in my note."

"Yeah, I know. I don't think they liked what you had to say very much. My mom was practically crying. I think she's afraid that you're not coming back."

Ryan sighed. "I promised that I would come back and finish school, and I will."

"Hey, it's not me that you have to convince, it's my parents."

"I know..."

"You want me to go get them? They're in bed, but knowing them, they're probably still awake –"

"No! No, I'll... I'll talk to them tomorrow."

"Yeah, well, good luck with that."

Ryan smiled. "Thanks."

After chatting a bit more with Seth, Ryan hung up the phone and started getting ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

* * *

**The End.**


	10. Epilogue

**Title:** Apples and Trees

**Description:** Ryan is in danger of following in his brother's footsteps.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to _The O.C._. Not for profit.

**Author's Notes:** By popular demand, an epilogue wherein Ryan returns to Newport the following summer.

* * *

**Epilogue**

Ryan got off the bus from Las Vegas and as he requested, Seth was there to pick him up. Ryan broke out into a big grin to match Seth's when they saw each other.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Ryan and Seth clasped hands and gave each other a one-armed hug.

"Hey, man, you're looking good."

"You, too. Better than when I last saw you." Ryan teased.

"Ha, ha, very funny."

The last time Ryan saw Seth was when he and Marissa came to Vegas for the weekend for Ryan's 18th birthday in March. Seth had had the sensitivity to vacate Ryan's place for the night so that he and Marissa could have some time alone. Unfortunately, Seth spent the night out doing god-knew-what and had come back somewhat worse for the wear, including somewhat drunk.

Unfortunately, Seth and Marissa had to fly out that day. Ryan had been amused but sympathetic when Seth had called the next day to report that his parents were none too pleased at his state when he arrived back at home, forbidding him from ever going to Las Vegas again. And they even tried to ground him, even though he was over 18.

Ryan grabbed his duffle bag, and the two of them headed off to the Range Rover and headed home.

"My parents are going to be so happy to see you."

"Do they still think I'm coming back next week?"

"Yup." Seth smiled. "See, I told you I could keep a secret."

"Good job, Seth. Especially since I just told you yesterday that I was coming back early."

"You are so funny today, I can't stand it."

Ryan just smiled back.

"So, Marissa, right? She's asked you to come home early?"

"Yup. She called. She and Summer are leaving earlier than they had previously planned, so they can look for an apartment. They didn't get a room in the dorms."

Seth shook his head. "I still can't believe that situation."

Ryan shook his head also. "You and me both."

Ryan had kept in touch with Marissa while he was in Vegas, and she had kept him apprised of all the surprising events. Apparently, Summer's father and step-mother had had a falling out during the holidays and quickly thereafter got divorced. Enter Julie Cooper. The way Marissa told it, she saw an opening and went in for the kill, taking advantage of the fact that her daughter was living in Neil's house. They were married in June. So now Summer and Marissa were really sisters, step-sisters. And Marissa's new step-dad was paying to send her to college. She and Summer were both going to USC.

"Actually this is good, you coming home early. This way we get more time before I leave for Berkeley."

"Don't expect to see me much this week. I'm spending time with Marissa. You still going week after next?"

"Yup."

Ryan stared out the passenger side window and watched the houses going by. It was going to be weird living at the Cohens without Seth this year. At least Marissa was just going to be at USC so he could still see her on a regular basis.

"Ryan? You okay?"

Ryan turned back to look at Seth. "Yeah. It's just weird to be back."

"I _know_. Must be weird going back to school, being a kid again, after being on your own and supporting yourself for eight months. But I guess you've had practice at that –"

Ryan nodded. Yeah, he had to do pretty much the same thing after coming back to Newport after spending the summer with Theresa in Chino. But it was also a little different.

"Yeah, true. But you know, if I learned anything working construction all this time, it's that I _do_ want to finish school and go to college. I don't want to do that work my whole life. I worked with guys there that were smart, could have worked much better jobs, but were stuck there because they didn't have the education."

Seth smiled. "My parents are going to be happy to hear you say that."

Ryan smiled back. "Yeah, I figured."

* * *

When Ryan and Seth walked in the front door of Casa de Cohen, Seth gestured to Ryan to keep quiet, then called out, 

"Mom? Dad?"

Sandy called back, "In here."

Seth turned to Ryan and gave him a smirk. Sandy and Kirsten were going to be very surprised, and hopefully very happy, to see him. Ryan left his duffle bag in the foyer and followed Seth down the hall to the family room. Ryan could see Sandy and Kirsten in there sitting on the couch and watching TV. Seth and Ryan both stopped just inside the doorway and waited to be noticed.

After a moment, Kirsten turned to Seth, "Honey, what do you want for dinner?"

Then she froze, mouth open. Ryan smiled at her. She shrieked and jumped up, rushing over to Ryan and giving him a big hug. After a moment she took her arms from around him and held him at arm's length, looking him over.

"You look great, Ryan. I can't believe how much you've grown."

Ryan cocked an eyebrow at her. As far as he could tell, he hadn't grown an inch in years.

Kirsten laughed. "You know what I mean. You look so much older. You're a man, now."

"Honey, he _is_ 18. Of course he's grown up."

Ryan looked over at Sandy, who had turned off the TV and was now standing in front of the couch. After Kirsten let him go, Sandy reached over and shook his hand.

"Good to have you back, kid." Sandy laughed. "I guess I can't call you 'kid' any more. How about 'young man'?"

Ryan gave him a look like _I don't think so_.

Sandy laughed, again. "You're right. I'm going to have to give that some more thought."

Kirsten asked, "So, then, Ryan. What do you want for dinner? Whatever you want. It's your welcome-home dinner."

Ryan hesitantly replied, "Um, actually, I told Marissa I'd have dinner with her –"

Kirsten quickly said, "That's fine. We'll just do it tomorrow."

Ryan smiled at her. "That would be great."

Sandy told Ryan, "We can discuss everything tomorrow. We don't need to get you enrolled at Newport Union until next week –"

"Um, actually, Sandy. I can do that by myself. Since I'm 18, I won't need a parental signature."

"Oh, right."

Ryan nodded, a little bit uncomfortable. He started shuffling towards the foyer. "Um, I'm just going to grab my stuff..."

Sandy nodded. "Go ahead, Ryan, and get yourself settled back in in the pool house. And have fun with Marissa."

Ryan smiled at him. "Thanks. And it's good to be home."

* * *

Really **The End**. 


End file.
